Methods and systems for providing a document

ABSTRACT

Systems and methods for providing a document are described. In one described method, a document comprising a portion selected by a first member of a social network is hoisted for the first member. The portion is dynamically updated with content. An audience criterion for the portion and a type of relationship between the first member and a second member of the social network are identified. If the type of relationship between the first member and the second member satisfies the audience criterion, the second member is provided access to at least the portion.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation of and claims priority to U.S.application Ser. No. 13/617,857, filed Sep. 14, 2012, titled, “Methodsand Systems for Providing a Document,” which is a continuation of andclaims priority to U.S. Pat. No. 8,719,177, filed Jul. 28, 2011, titled,“Methods and Systems for Providing a Document,” which is a division ofU.S. Pat. No. 8,015,019, filed Aug. 3, 2004, titled “Methods and Systemsfor Providing a Document,” each of which are incorporated by referencein their entirety.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The invention generally relates to providing documents. Moreparticularly, the invention relates to methods and systems for providinga document with a portion that is dynamically updated.

BACKGROUND

People create personal web pages, and may like to provide up-to dateinformation on their personal web pages. Some known websites, such asthose hosted on Friendster™, Tribe™, and Tickle™ facilitate interactionbetween members of a network or group. These conventional member-networksystems generally do not provide members with effective mechanisms toprovide and manage dynamically updated content.

SUMMARY

Embodiments of the present invention comprise systems and methods forproviding a document. One embodiment of the present invention compriseshosting a document for a first member of a social network. The documentmay comprise a portion selected by the first member that is dynamicallyupdated with content. This embodiment further comprises identifying anaudience criterion for the portion, and a type of relationship betweenthe first member and second member of the social network. If the type ofrelationship between the first member and the second member satisfiesthe audience criterion, the second member may be provided with access toat least the portion.

This embodiment is mentioned not to limit or define the invention, butto provide an illustrative embodiment of the invention to aidunderstanding thereof. Embodiments are discussed in the DetailedDescription, and further description of the invention is provided there.Advantages offered by the various embodiments of the present inventionmay be further understood by examining this specification.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES

These and other features, aspects, and advantages of the presentinvention are better understood when the following Detailed Descriptionis read with reference to the accompanying drawings, wherein:

FIG. 1 is a diagram of a system according to one embodiment of thepresent invention;

FIG. 2 shows a diagram of a social network according to one embodimentof the present invention;

FIG. 3 shows a flow diagram of a method according to one embodiment ofthe present invention;

FIG. 4 shows a flow diagram of a method according to another embodimentof the present invention;

FIG. 5 shows a flow diagram of a subroutine of the method of FIG. 4 fordetermining whether a portion may be of interest to a first socialnetwork member according to one embodiment of the present invention; and

FIG. 6 shows a flow diagram of a method according to another embodimentof the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION Overview

Embodiments of the present invention provide systems and methods forproviding a document. A variety of systems and methods may beimplemented according to the present invention, and they may operate ina variety of environments. By way of introduction and example, thesubject matter of the invention in one embodiment may relate toproviding a social network member an opportunity to generate apersonalized portal page including dynamically updated content ofinterest or relevance to the member, such as weather forecasts, sportsscores, financial market numbers, movie show times, etc. This portalpage may be accessible from the member's social network member profileand/or may be accessible to some or all of the other members of thesocial network. This introduction is given to introduce the reader tothe general subject matter of the invention. By no means is theinvention limited to such subject matter. Illustrative embodiments aredescribed below.

System Architecture

Referring now to the drawings in which like numerals indicate likeelements throughout the several figures, FIG. 1 is a diagram of a systemaccording to one embodiment of the present invention. The system 100shown in FIG. 1 comprises multiple client devices 102 a-n incommunication with a server device 104 over a network 106. In oneembodiment, the network 106 shown comprises the Internet. In otherembodiments, other networks, such as an intranet, WAN, or LAN may beused. Moreover, methods according to the present invention may operatewithin a single computer.

The client devices 102 a-n shown each comprises a computer-readablemedium, such as a random access memory (RAM) 108 coupled to a processor110. The processor 110 executes computer-executable program instructionsstored in memory 108. Such processors may comprise a microprocessor, anASIC, and state machines. Such processors comprise, or may be incommunication with, media, for example computer-readable media, whichstores instructions that, when executed by the processor, cause theprocessor to perform the steps described herein. Embodiments ofcomputer-readable media include, but are not limited to, an electronic,optical, magnetic, or other storage or transmission device capable ofproviding a processor, such as the processor 110 of client 102 a, withcomputer-readable instructions. Other examples of suitable mediainclude, but are not limited to, a floppy disk, CD-ROM, DVD, magneticdisk, memory chip, ROM, RAM, an ASIC, a configured processor, alloptical media, all magnetic tape or other magnetic media, or any othermedium from which a computer processor can read instructions. Also,various other forms of computer-readable media may transmit or carryinstructions to a computer, including a router, private or publicnetwork, or other transmission device or channel both wired andwireless. The instructions may comprise code from any suitablecomputer-programming language, including, for example, C, C++, C#,Visual Basic, Java, Python, Perl, and JavaScript.

Client devices 102 a-n may also comprise a number of external orinternal devices such as a mouse, a CD-ROM, DVD, a keyboard, a display,or other input or output devices. Examples of client devices 102 a-n arepersonal computers, digital assistants, personal digital assistants,cellular phones, mobile phones, smart phones, pagers, digital tablets,laptop computers, Internet appliances, and other processor-baseddevices. In general, a client device 102 a may be any type of suitableprocessor-based platform that is connected to a network 106 and thatinteracts with one or more application programs. Client devices 102 a-nmay operate on any operating system capable of supporting a browser orbrowser-enabled application, such as Microsoft® Windows® or Linux. Theclient devices 102 a-n shown include, for example, personal computersexecuting a browser application program such as Microsoft Corporation'sInternet Explorer™, Netscape Communication Corporation's NetscapeNavigator™, and Apple Computer, Inc.'s Safari™.

Through the client devices 102 a-n, users 112 a-n can communicate overthe network 106 with each other and with other systems and devicescoupled to the network 106. As shown in FIG. 1, a server device 104 isalso coupled to the network 106.

The server device 104 shown comprises a server executing a socialnetwork engine application program, also known as a social networkengine 120. The social network engine 120 allows users, such as user 112a, to interact with and participate in a social network. A socialnetwork can refer to a computer network connecting entities, such aspeople or organizations, by a set of social relationships, such asfriendship, coworking, or information exchange. Of course, a socialnetwork can refer to a computer application or data connecting suchentities by such social relationships. Examples of social networksinclude Orkut.com and Friendster.com.

Social networks can comprise any of a variety of suitable arrangements.An entity or member of a social network can have a profile and thatprofile can represent the member in the social network. The socialnetwork can facilitate interaction between member profiles and allowassociations or relationships between member profiles. Associationsbetween member profiles can be one or more of a variety of types, suchas friend, co-worker, family member, business associate, common-interestassociation, and common-geography association. Associations can alsoinclude intermediary relationships, such as mend of a friend, and degreeof separation relationships, such as three degrees away.

Associations between member profiles can be reciprocal associations. Forexample, a first member can invite another member to become associatedwith the first member and the other member can accept or reject theinvitation. A member can also categorize or weigh the association withother member profiles, such as, for example, by assigning a level to theassociation. For example, for a friendship-type association, the membercan assign a level, such as acquaintance, friend, good friend, and bestfriend, to the associations between the member's profile and othermember profiles. In one embodiment, the social network engine 120 candetermine the type of association between member profiles, including, insome embodiments, the degree of separation of the association and thecorresponding weight or level of the association.

Similar to the client devices 102 a·o, the server device 104 showncomprises a processor 116 coupled to a computer-readable memory 118. Theserver device 104 is in communication with a social network database130. Server device 104, depicted as a single computer system, may beimplemented as a network of computer processors. Examples of a serverdevice 104 are servers, mainframe computers, networked computers, aprocessor-based device, and similar types of systems and devices. Clientprocessor 110 and the server processor 116 can be any of a number ofcomputer processors, such as processors from Intel Corporation of SantaClara, Calif. and Motorola Corporation of Schaumburg, Ill.

Memory 118 contains a social network engine application program, alsoknown as a social network engine 120. The social network engine 120facilitates members, such as user 112 a, interacting with andparticipating in a social network. A social network can compriseprofiles that can be associated with other profiles. Each profile mayrepresent a member and a member can be, for example, a person, anorganization, a business, a corporation, a community, a fictitiousperson, or other entity. Each profile can comprise entries, and eachentry can comprise information associated with a profile. Examples ofentries for a person profile can comprise information regardingrelationship status, birth date, age, children, ethnicity, religion,political view, sense of humor, sexual orientation, fashion preferences,smoking habits, drinking habits, pets, hometown location, passions,sports, activities, favorite books and music, TV or movie preferences,favorite cuisines, email addresses, location information, IM name, phonenumber, address, skills, career, or any other information describing,identifying, or otherwise associated with a profile. Entries for abusiness profile can comprise market sector, customer base, location,supplier information, net profits, net worth, number of employees, stockperformance, or other types of information associated with the businessprofile. Additionally, entries associated with a profile can compriseassociations with other profiles. Associations between profiles within asocial network can include, for example, friendships, businessrelationships, acquaintances, community associations, activity partnerassociations, common interest associations, common characteristicassociations, or any other suitable type of association betweenprofiles.

The social network engine 120 can comprise a rating processor 122. Therating processor 122 can facilitate the ability of the user 112 a torate other members and can determine overall ratings for each member.The rating processor can cause the display on the client device 102 a ofa ratings interface. The ratings interface can display member namesassociated with the user 112 a and allow the user 112 a to rate eachassociated member. A member's overall rating can be contained in anddisplayed with the member's profile. The member's overall rating can inpart determine the appearance of a member's icon.

Server device 104 also provides access to storage elements, such as asocial network storage element, in the example shown in FIG. 1, a socialnetwork database 130. The social network database 130 can be used tostore member profiles. Data storage elements may include anyone orcombination of methods for storing data, including without limitation,arrays, hash tables, lists, and pairs. The server device 104 can accessother similar types of data storage devices. The social network engine120 can receive data comprising the members' profiles from the socialnetwork database 130 and can also send data comprising member profilesto the social network database 130 for storage. The social networkdatabase 130 may be physically attached or otherwise in communicationwith the social network engine 120 by way of a network or otherconnection.

It should be noted that the present invention may comprise systemshaving different architecture than that which is shown in FIG. 1. Forexample, in some systems according to the present invention, serverdevice 104 may comprise a single physical or logical server. The system100 shown in FIG. 1 is merely illustrative, and is used to help explainthe social networks and methods illustrated in FIGS. 2-5.

Exemplary Social Network

FIG. 2 shows a diagram of a social network 200 according to oneembodiment of the present invention. According to the embodimentillustrated in FIG. 2, the social network 200 is illustrated with agraph comprising vertices 202, 204, 206, 208, 210, 212, and 214 andedges 218, 220, 222, 224, 226, 228, 230, 232, and 234. The vertices 202,204, 206, 208, 210, 212, and 214 comprise profiles A, B, C, D, E, F, andG, respectively. Each profile can represent a member profile of a memberof the social network 200. The exemplary network 200 shown in FIG. 2 hasseven members.

Considerably more members can be part of the social network 200. Amember can be an entity such as, for example, a person, an organization,a business, a corporation, a community, a fictitious person, or othersuitable entity.

Each member profile can contain entries, and each entry can compriseinformation associated with a profile. For example, a person's memberprofile can contain: personal information, such as relationship status,birth date, age, children, ethnicity, religion, political view, sense ofhumor, sexual orientation, fashion preferences, smoking habits, drinkinghabits, pets, hometown location, passions, sports, activities, favoritebooks or music, TV or movie preferences, and favorite cuisines; contactinformation, such as email addresses, location information, instantmessenger name, telephone numbers, and address; professionalinformation, such as job title, employer, and skills; educationalinformation, such as schools attended and degrees obtained, and anyother suitable information describing, identifying, or otherwiseassociated with a person. A business' member profile can, for example,contain a description of the business, and information about its marketsector, customer base, location, suppliers, net profits, net worth,number of employees, stock performance, contact information, and othertypes of suitable information associated with the business.

A member profile can also contain rating information associated with themember. For example, the member can be rated or scored by other membersof the social network 200 in specific categories, such as humor,intelligence, fashion, trustworthiness, sexiness, and coolness. Amember's category ratings can be contained in the member's profile. Inone embodiment of the social network, a member can have fans. Fans canbe other members who have indicated that they are “fans” of the member.Rating information can also include the number of fans of a member andidentifiers of the fans. Rating information can also include the rate atwhich a member accumulated ratings or fans and how recently the memberhas been rated or acquired fans.

A member profile can also contain membership information associated withthe member. Membership information can include information about amember's login patterns to the social network, such as the frequencythat the member logs in to the social network and the member's mostrecent login to the social network. Membership information can alsoinclude information about the rate and frequency that a member profilegains associations to other member profiles. In a social network thatcomprises advertising or sponsorship, a member profile may containconsumer information. Consumer information may include the frequency,patterns, types, or number of purchases the member makes, or informationabout which advertisers or sponsors the member has accessed, patronized,or used.

A member profile may comprise data stored in memory. The profile, inaddition to comprising data about the member, can also comprise datarelating to others. For example, a member profile can contain anidentification of associations or virtual links with other memberprofiles. In one embodiment, a member's social network member profilemay comprise a hyperlink associated with another member's profile. Inone such association, the other member's profile may contain areciprocal hyperlink associated with the first member's profile. Amember's profile may also contain information excerpted from anotherassociated member's profile, such as a thumbnail image of the associatedmember, his or her age, marital status, and location, as well as anindication of the number of members with which the associated member isassociated. In one embodiment, a member's profile may comprise a list ofother social network members' profiles with which the member wishes tobe associated.

An association may be designated manually or automatically. For example,a member may designate associated members manually by selecting otherprofiles and indicating an association that can be recorded in themember's profile. Also, an association between two profiles may comprisean association automatically generated in response to a predeterminednumber of common entries, aspects, or elements in the two members'profiles. In one embodiment, a member profile may be associated with allof the other member profiles comprising a predetermined number orpercentage of common entries, such as interests, hobbies, likes,dislikes, employers and/or habits.

Associations between profiles within a social network can be of a singletype or can be multiple types and can include, for example, friendshipassociations, business associations, family associations, communityassociations, school associations, or any other suitable type of linkbetween profiles. Associations can further be weighted to represent thestrength of the association. For example, a friendship association canbe weighted more than a school association. Each type of association canhave various levels with different weights associated with each level.For example, a friendship association can be classified according towhich of a plurality of friendship association levels it belongs to. Inone embodiment, a friendship association may be assigned a level by themember from a list of levels comprising: a best friend, a good friend, aregular friend, an acquaintance, and a friend the member has not met.

In FIG. 2, the edges 218, 220, 222, 224, 226, 228, 230, 232, and 234shown comprise associations between profiles. According to theembodiment shown in FIG. 2, the social network 200 comprises a pluralityof differing types of associations represented by edges 218, 220, 222,224, 226, 228, 230, 232, and 234. The types of associations shown inFIG. 2 for illustration purposes are business associations, activitypartner associations, friendship associations, community associations,and common characteristic associations. Common characteristicassociations may include, for example, associations based on somecharacteristic, such as attending the same high school or being from thesame hometown, and can indicate a lower level of significance thananother type of association, such as a friendship association.

Referring to FIG. 2, edge 220 and edge 222 each comprise an associationbetween profile A at vertex 202 and profile D at vertex 208. The edge220 represents a business association, and the edge 222 represents afriendship association. Profile A is also associated with profile E by acommon characteristic association comprising edge 218. The associationbetween profile A and profile E may be more attenuated than theassociation between profile A and D, but the association can still herepresented by the social network depicted in FIG. 2.

Each member represented by the profiles A, B, C, D, E, F, and Gcomprising the vertices 202, 204, 206, 208, 210, 212, and 214,respectively, for purposes of illustration, comprises a person. Othertypes of members can be in social network 200. For example, communities,special interest groups, organizations, political parties, universities,and legal persons, such as corporations and business partnerships may bemembers of the social network 200. The associations 218, 220, 222, 224,226, 228, 230, 232, and 234 illustrated in FIG. 2 comprisebi-directional associations. An association between two profiles maycomprise a hi-directional association when both parties to theassociation are associated with each other. For example, in FIG. 2,profile A is associated with profile D, and profile D is also associatedwith profile A. In one embodiment, profiles A and D will not bebi-directionally associated with each other until both profiles consentto such an association. For example, profile A may invite profile D tobe associated therewith, and the bi-directional association occurs uponprofile D's acceptance of such invitation. The invitation, for example,may include sending an email or other message to profile D indicatingthat profile A has requested an association with profile D.

Other embodiments of the present invention may comprise directedassociations or other types of associations. Directed associations canassociate a first profile with a second profile while not requiring thesecond profile to be associated with the first profile. For example,profile A can be associated by a friendship association with profile S,and profile S can be unassociated with profile A, or profile B can beassociated with profile A through a different type of association, suchas a business association. Thus a display of profile A's friends wouldinclude profile B, but a display of profile B's friends would notinclude profile A.

Within a social network, a degree of separation can be determined forassociated profiles. In one embodiment, a degree of separation betweentwo profiles can be determined the fewest number of edges of a certaintype separating the associated profiles. In another embodiment, atype-specific degree of separation may be determined. A type-specificdegree of separation comprises a degree of separation determined basedon one particular type of association. For example, a profile A has afriend association degree of separation of two from profile E. Thefewest number of friendship associations between profile A and profile Eis two—the friendship association comprising edge 222 between profiles Aand D and the friendship association comprising edge 234 betweenprofiles D and E. Thus, for the associated profiles A and E, the degreeof friendship separation, determined according to one aspect of oneembodiment of the present invention, is two.

Another type-specific degree of separation can also be determined forprofiles A and E. For example, a common characteristic degree ofseparation can be determined by determining the fewest number of commoncharacteristic associations separating profile A and profile E.According to the embodiment depicted in FIG. 2, there is one commoncharacteristic association, comprising edge 218, separating profiles Aand E. Thus, the common characteristic association degree of separation,according to the embodiment depicted in FIG. 2, is one. The commoncharacteristic in this example can be that profile A attended the samehigh school as profile E. A common characteristic association may beselected by profiles A and E to represent that they are associated insome fashion, but to not create a close association, such as with afriendship association.

According to other aspects of certain embodiments of the presentinvention, the degree of separation may be determined by use of aweighting factor assigned to each association. For example, closefriendships can be weighted higher than more distant friendships.According to certain aspects of embodiments using a weighting factor, ahigher weighting factor for an association can reduce the degree ofseparation between profiles and lower weighting factors can increase thedegree of separation. This can be accomplished, for example, byestablishing an inverse relationship between each associations and acorresponding weighting factor prior to summing the associations. Thus,highly weighted associations would contribute less to the resulting sumthan lower weighted associations.

Illustrative Methods

Various methods may be implemented in the environment shown in FIG. 1and other environments, according to the present invention. Methodsaccording to the present invention may be implemented by, for example, aprocessor-executable program code stored on a computer-readable medium.

For example, in one illustrative embodiment of a method according to thepresent invention, a document may be hosted for a first member of asocial network. An example of social network is the Orkut™ socialnetwork. A document may comprise data reflecting information relevant toa topic or topics, including information allowing one to find otherrelevant information. An example of a document comprises a web page,such as a web page having links or other means to locate or viewrelevant information (also known as a portal page). Other suitable typesof documents may be hosted. Hosting the document may comprise storingthe document on a server, or otherwise providing computer orcommunication facilities to facilitate access to the document. The hostmay be a provider or facilitator of the social network, or may beanother entity (such as a person or a company).

The hosted document may comprise a portion that is dynamically updatedwith content. Such a portion may comprise all or part of the document,whether seen or unseen when viewing a display of the document. A portionof a document may comprise, for example, a particular part of a webpage, a particular area of a web page, a graphic element of a web page,or other portion, or computer code (such as HTML) embodying suchexamples. The portion may be selected by the first member, mentionedabove, by another member, or by another entity. The member may selectthe portion in any suitable manner. Examples of such selecting includeselecting the portion for inclusion in the document from a menu in agraphical user interface, and indicating selection of the portion or acategory including the portion using such an interface.

A portion that is dynamically updated may comprise a portion that ischanged periodically (whether on a regular or irregular frequency). Thecontent of a dynamically updated portion may change as needed ordesired, and may change slightly or significantly. A document maycomprise one or more portions. A portion may comprise, for example, aregularly updated source for various types of information. A portion maybe updated with new content and information available on an informationnetwork, such as the Internet. In one embodiment, a portion may beupdated in association with availability of current information. Forexample, a portion that provides information about real estate may beupdated when a new listing matching the stated criteria of a user isposted on the Internet. Another embodiment may provide a user withup-to-the-minute airline fare information for routes the user regularlyflies or wishes to fly.

In one embodiment, the dynamically updated portion may be dynamicallyupdated with third-party content, e.g., content provided or sent by anentity independent of an entity hosting the document for the member andindependent of the member. Examples of a content that may be dynamicallyprovided and updated in a portion may comprise information such asweather, news, sports, movie listing and review, entertainment,financial market and portfolio, calendar and scheduling, health care,television listing, radio listing, navigational, children-oriented,horoscope and astrological, employment, personal and classifiedadvertisement, Internet and phone directory, astronomical, fantasysports league, online gaming, reference, real estate, travel, retail,search engine, social network group, social network friend, auction,automotive, periodical, newspaper, chat group, instant messaging, andelectronic mail information.

Some social network members may wish to share a document that they havecustomized. Similarly, social network members may wish to view thedocuments that other members, friends, and contacts on the socialnetwork have created or modified. A user may wish to set an audiencecriterion to allow only those other members that he or she wishes toallow access to a document. In one embodiment, only certain portions ofa document may be subject to an audience criterion. For example, a usermay wish to allow all members of a social network access to all but asingle portion on his or her document. In such a circumstance, only theportion that the user wishes to exclude from a general pool of socialnetwork members may be subject to an audience criterion.

An audience criterion for the portion may be identified by a processoror otherwise. The audience criterion may be any suitable criterionrelated to an audience or potential audience for the portion and/or theentire document, and the identification may be accomplished in anysuitable manner. For example, identifying the audience criterion for theportion may comprise receiving a relationship criterion from the socialnetwork member for which the document is hosted. Examples ofrelationship criterion include friend, co-worker, family member,business associate, common-interest association, common-geographyassociation, member category association, and intermediary relationship.This criteria may be input by the social network member using agraphical user interface associated with the social network, may beinferred or derived from the member's actions, profile, or otherinformation, or may be identified in another manner. The criteria mayalso, or alternatively, comprise a relationship weight, such as a levelof relationship designated by the social network member.

Access to the document portion may be provided to another member of thesocial network if the other member meets certain criteria. The host may,for example, receive a request for access to the document from a secondmember of the social network. The host may identify a type ofrelationship between the first member (the member for which the documentis hosted) and a second member of the social network. In one embodiment,the first and second members may have agreed on the type of relationship(such as through an process whereby the first member offers a type ofrelationship, and the second member accepts). The host or other entitymanaging access to the portion may access profile data (such as entriesor other suitable information in a social network member's profile)associated with the first member, the second member, or both, and mayidentify the type of relationship (or the level of relationship or otheraspect of the relationship) based, at least in part, on the profiledata.

If the type of relationship (or the level of relationship or otheraspect of the relationship) between the first member and the secondmember, as so identified, satisfies the audience criterion, the secondmember may be provided with access to at least the portion by the host.Such access may include receiving the portion from the host when thehost provides the portion, simply having the portion accessible for atime period if desired, or otherwise allowing for access.

In another illustrative embodiment, one or more portions of documentsassociated with members of a social network may be used to generate anew document (such as a web page) for a member of a social network. Inone example, members of a social network may have previously selecteddynamically updated portions (or dynamically-updated content for thoseportions) for documents, such as web pages, with which they areassociated. The members carrying out such selections may comprisemembers besides the member for which a document is to be generated. Aprocessor may determine whether such a portion may be of interest to afirst member of the social network, and if so, the portion may beselected for inclusion in a generated document. The first member may beprovided access to the generated document comprising the portion. Inthis manner, for example, a web page may be generated for a member of asocial network that comprises dynamic content selected by other membersof the social network (such as dynamic content that is popular amongother members). The host may host the generated document for the firstmember by, for example, causing the document to be stored on a serveraccessible to members of the social network.

The determination of whether the portion may be of interest to aparticular member of the social network may be made in any suitablemanner. For example, a processor may access profile data associated withthe member, and determine whether the portion may be of interest to themember based, at least in part, on the profile data. For example, aportion that provides regularly-updated personality-matching singles'dating information for people in the Seattle, Wash. area may be ofinterest to a member with profile data entries in his or her memberprofile that relate that he or she is 27 years old, single, living inSeattle, and wishes to use the social network to find dates or activitypartners. As another example, a member may submit to the processor arequest to include a particular portion. In one such embodiment, theportion may be communicated to the member as of interest, and the membermay be prompted by the processor (through a graphical user interface orotherwise) to indicate whether to include the portion in a generateddocument.

Identifying the portion of the document for inclusion may compriseidentifying a type of relationship between the member for which thedocument is to be generated and the member of the social network withwhich the document containing a portion of possible interest isassociated. If the type of relationship satisfies a relationshipcriterion, the portion may be selected from the document for inclusionin the generated document. The relationship criterion may be selected inany suitable manner, and some examples of relationship criterion aredescribed above.

Access to the document generated in this manner may be open, or it maybe limited. A document generated for the member that includes a portionthat may be of interest to the member may be accessible only to themember, and inaccessible to other members of the social network. In oneembodiment, the generated document may be password protected andaccessible only to those with knowledge of, or access to, the password,such as the member himself or herself. In another embodiment, thegenerated document may be accessible only to a plurality of members ofthe social network that meet an audience criterion. The audiencecriterion may be provided by the first member (the member for which thedocument was generated). As examples, the audience criterion maycomprise a mutually agreed upon relationship, a relationship with ashared intermediary member of the social network, a specified degree ofseparation, a member category association, or other criterion.

Determining whether the portion may be of interest to a member of thesocial network may involve considering data associated with multiplemembers of the social network. In one embodiment, determining whetherthe portion may be of interest to a first member may compriseidentifying a plurality of members of the social network with which thefirst member has a relationship, and determining a number of instancesof the portion in a plurality of documents associated with the pluralityof members. By determining the number of instances, the level ofpopularity of the portion may be determined. For example, if a largenumber, or a large percentage, of such members has the portion presenton a web page they selected, it may be inferred that the first membermay also be interested in having the portion of the first member's webpage. Identifying the plurality of members having such a relationshipwith the first member may comprise accessing profile data associatedwith the plurality of members. The portion of interest may be chosenbased, at least in part, on the profile data of this plurality ofmembers.

Certain portions may comprise dynamically updated content that is timesensitive. For example, a portion that provides updated informationabout the Summer Olympics may only be particularly useful to a documentuser during the occurrence of the subject Olympic Games, and for a briefperiod before and after their occurrence. Accordingly, in order totimely identify such a time-sensitive portion, it may be useful for asocial network engine to look at the rate of addition or deletion of aparticular portion to the plurality of documents. A high rate ofaddition or deletion may indicate that the particular portion may be ofgreat or little interest, respectively. If the rate of addition of thetime-sensitive portion to documents of social network members associatedwith the first member is high, then the social network engine may findit desirable to quickly alert the first member to the rapid rise inpopularity of the particular portion. Conversely, if the rate ofdeletion of a portion is high, it may indicate that the particularportion is rapidly becoming out of date, unimportant, and/or unpopular.

The identification of a portion of possible interest to the first membermay be based; at least in part, on a usage rate or a dormancy rate ofthe portion by a plurality of social network members. A usage rate maycomprise a measure of how often social network members who have aparticular portion on their respective documents use or accessinformation from the display. A dormancy rate may comprise a measure ofhow many social network members have a particular portion on theirpersonalized documents, but rarely or never access information providedby the display. For example, if a portion can be found on a number ofsocial network members' documents, and is regularly used by a largenumber or percentage of these members, a social network engine may deemthe portion to have a high usage rate. The portion may therefore be ofinterest to the first member. Conversely, if a portion is not often usedby most of the social network members who have it on their documents, adormancy rate associated with the particular portion may be high, andthe portion may not be of interest to the first member.

Member categories may be used in such determinations as well. Forexample, a member category to which the first member belongs may beidentified (such as “sports fan,” “New York City resident,” or othercategory). In one embodiment, whether or not the portion may be ofinterest to the first member may comprise determining whether theportion may be of interest to a plurality of members of the socialnetwork belonging to a member category to which the first memberbelongs. In one such embodiment, profile data associated with theplurality of members of the social network belonging to the membercategory may be accessed by a processor, and the processor may determinewhether the portion may be of interest to the plurality of membersbased, at least in part, on the profile data. In another suchembodiment, the processor may identify a request to include the portionfrom at least one of the plurality of members of the social networkbelonging to the member category, and determine whether the portion maybe of interest to the plurality of members based, at least in part, onthe request. Also, whether or not a portion may be of interest to afirst member of the social network may be based, at least in part, onthe number of instances of the portion in a plurality of documentsassociated with a plurality of members of the social network belongingto a same member category as the first member.

Another illustrative embodiment of a method according to the presentinvention comprises including member-selected portions in a document(such as a web page) for the member. In one such method, a processor mayidentify a portion of a document having dynamically-updated content thathas been selected by at least one of a plurality of members of a socialnetwork. The processor may access profile data associated with a firstmember of the social network, and determine whether the portion may beof interest to the first member based, at least in part, on the profiledata. The portion may then be communicated to the first member, and thefirst member may be prompted to indicate whether to include the portionin a generated document. For example, the portion may be displayed ordescribed to the member using a graphical user interface, and theinterface may include a prompt (such as a question or a selection menu).The processor may receive a request from the first member to include theportion, and the portion may then be selected for inclusion in agenerated document based at least in part on this request. The processormay then cause the generated document to be hosted, whether on a serveror otherwise, and to be provided to the first member and others, ifdesired.

Embodiments of the present invention may also be used to identifyportions that may be of interest to a group of associated social networkmembers, such as a social network member category or community. One suchembodiment comprises accessing profile data associated with the group,such as the individual group members' social network member profiles,and selecting a portion that may be of interest to the group based, atleast in part, on the accessed profile data. For example, a portion thatprovides dynamically updated information about a political race and itscandidates may be of interest to members of a group of social networkmembers comprising a stated goal of fostering discussion about politicaltopics and wherein a plurality of the members of the group have entriesin their respective plurality of member profiles relating that they areinvolved with politics and are working on the respective campaigns ofthe candidates for the political race.

A document generated for a group of members, such as a social networkcommunity, may comprise a portion identified to be of possible interestto the members of the group, or a portion thereof. For example, in oneembodiment, at least one member of the group may be provided such agenerated document in response to identification of a request from atleast one other member of the group to include the identified portion inthe generated document. In another such embodiment, in order for aportion that may be of interest to the group to be provided with agenerated document, requests to include the identified portion must beidentified from at least a predetermined number of members of the group.

A generated document comprising a portion identified to be of interestto a group of social network members may be accessible to the entiregroup of members. In one such embodiment, the generated document may beaccessible to the group of members to the exclusion of other members ofthe social network. In another such embodiment the generated documentmay be password protected with a password accessible to the members ofthe group.

A further illustrative embodiment comprises prompting attention to aportion of a document. One such embodiment comprises identifying adocument associated with a first member of a social network. Thedocument may comprise a portion that is dynamically updated withcontent. The method may comprise identifying interest information forthe first member, and prompting attention to the portion based, at leastin part, on the interest information. The identification of interestinformation for the first member may comprise any suitableidentification. Examples include accessing a member profile for thefirst member, accessing a plurality of member profiles associated with aplurality of social network members associated with the first member,and identifying a plurality of portions that are dynamically updatedwith content on documents associated with a plurality of social networkmembers associated with the first member.

Prompting attention to the portion may comprise suggesting removal ofthe portion from the document, alteration of the portion, automaticallyremoving the portion from the document, or other prompt or action. Inone example, if the prompting of attention may comprise suggestingremoval or a similar action, removing the portion from the document maybe carried out if a direction to remove the portion has been receivedfrom the first member. In a different embodiment, attention may beprompted to the portion by highlighting the portion on a user interfacevisible to the first member.

This further illustrative embodiment may also comprise determining arating for the portion based, at least in part, on the interestinformation. The first member, or other entity, may be provided asuggestion associated with the portion based, at least in part, on therating. For example, a portion may be determined to be highly rated if acertain threshold number or percentage of a plurality of accesseddocuments associated with the first member comprises the particularportion. Additionally, or alternatively, a portion may be associatedwith a high rating if it has experienced a high rate of addition to anumber of a plurality of other social network members' personalizeddocuments.

The first member may be alerted to a rise or fall in the rating of theportion on his or her personalized document. A rating may comprise, forexample. a rating of popularity, and may indicate the unpopularity of aportion in addition to indicating popularity. For example, in oneembodiment, a portion may be rated on a scale of 0-100, where a ratingof “0” indicates a very unpopular portion, and a rating of “1 00”indicates an extremely popular portion. In one such embodiment, anumeric indicator corresponding to the rating of the portion may beoutput proximate the portion on the document to the first member. Thefirst member may then be able to view easily the popularity of theportion(s) on his or her document.

In another embodiment, a portion identified on the first member'sdocument may be suggested for removal or automatically removed by asocial network engine. For example, the first member may have an entryin his or her profile data listing his hometown as Tuscaloosa, Ala. Ifthe social network profile for the first member also indicates that heor she recently moved to Tuscaloosa from Cheyenne, Wyo., the processormay suggest the removal of a portion that provides a dynamically updatedweather forecast for Cheyenne. In one such embodiment, the socialnetwork engine may also suggest the member add an alternative portionthat provides a current weather forecast for the Tuscaloosa, Ala. area,as well as a portion generated by the Tuscaloosa chamber of commercethat provides a community events calendar for Tuscaloosa and thesurrounding area.

An operator of a server hosting a social network and/or documentscomprising portions that are dynamically updated with content may findit useful to output advertisements with the documents and/or theportions. One embodiment of the present invention may comprisegenerating an advertisement associated with a member's document, and/orwith a portion thereon. The generated advertisement may then be outputwith the document and/or the portion to the member who selected theportions for the document, or to other members that request access tothe document. For example, if a first member's document comprises aportion that provides show time and ticket information a local movietheater, a movie trailer advertisement for a movie being shown at thatparticular theater may be output with the document when the first memberor one of his friends accesses his or her document.

Certain embodiments of the present invention may operate outside of asocial network setting. For example, one such embodiment may compriseproviding a selectable plurality of portions comprising dynamicallyupdated content, generating a document comprising at least one of theselectable plurality of portions, and receiving a request signal from anentity unassociated with the document. The request signal may comprise arequest for access to the document. For example, if a first user isassociated with a portal page document comprising portion(s) selected bythe first user, other users in communication with a network (such as theInternet) may be considered unassociated with the document, and maygenerate a request signal. Access may then be provided to the entityunassociated with [he document, and/or the generated document may thenbe output to the entity unassociated with the document.

Referring again to the drawings, in which like numerals indicate likeelements throughout the several figures, FIG. 3 shows a flow diagram ofa method according to one embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 3shows a method 300 for providing access to a document comprising aportion that is dynamically updated with content in accordance with oneembodiment of the invention. This illustrative method 300 is provided byway of example, as there are a variety of ways to carry out methodsaccording to the present invention. The method 300 shown in FIG. 3 canbe executed or otherwise performed by one or a combination of varioussystems. The method 300, and the methods described with respect to FIGS.4 through 6 are described below as carried out by the system 100 shownin FIG. 1 by way of example, and various elements of the system 100 arereferenced in explaining the illustrative methods of FIGS. 3-6.

As shown in block 302, the method 300 comprises hosting a documentcomprising a portion that is dynamically updated with content for afirst member, such as the user 112 a. For example, the server device 104may host the document for the first member 112 a. The document may bestored in the social network database 130. The processor device 116 mayretrieve the first document, including retrieving updated content forthe dynamically updated portion, from the social network database 130and/or from other devices in communication with the network 106 when arequest is received for access to the document.

In one embodiment, the content may comprise third-party content, and maybe provided by an entity independent of the server device 104, andindependent of the first member 112 a. For example, in one suchembodiment, the dynamically updated content may comprise a weatherforecast for the geographic area in which the first member lives. Theweather forecast may be provided and updated with new information by athird party, such as by a server device (other than server device 104)in communication with the network 106. In other embodiments, third partycontent may comprise a wide variety of other suitable types, includingsports information, news information, horoscopes, movie times andlocations, etc.

The social network engine 120 may then identify a request from an entityother than the first member 112 a (such as a second member of the socialnetwork) for access to at least the dynamically updated portion firstmember's 112 a document, as shown in block 304. For example, the socialnetwork engine may receive and identify such a request from the secondmember 112 b. In one such embodiment, the request may comprise a requestsignal requesting access to at least the portion of the first member's112 a personalized document that is dynamically updated with content.

The method 300 further comprises identifying an audience criterion forthe portion of the hosted document, as shown in box 306. In oneembodiment, the social network engine 120 may request from the firstmember 112 a an audience criterion. For example, the social networkengine 120 may generate and output a signal requesting the first member112 a to indicate whether he or she would like to restrict access to hisor her personalized document, and/or a dynamically updated portionthereon. The first member 112 a may then determine whom he or she wouldlike to be able to view the personalized document and/or the portion byselecting an appropriate audience criterion. The first member 112 a maythen output the selected audience criterion to the social network engine120 over the network 106. The social network engine 120 may receive thefirst member's 112 a specified audience criterion, and identify thereceived audience criterion.

In the embodiment shown in FIG. 3, the audience criterion comprises arelationship criterion (such as a specified type of relationship betweenthe first member and the second member). For example, a relationshipcriterion may comprise a type of relationship between the first andsecond members such as a friend, a family member, a business associate,a common-interest association, a common-geography association, a membercategory association, or a relationship through an intermediary. In someembodiments, the audience criterion may comprise a relationship weight,such as a level of relationship specified by the first member, or alevel of relationship agreed upon by the first and second members (suchas a type of relationship offered by the first member and accepted bythe second member).

In yet other embodiments an audience criterion may comprise, forexample, an acceptable entity, or a list of acceptable entities, towhich the first member's 112 a personalized document and/or thedynamically updated portion or portions thereon may be output, or towhom access to at least the portions may be provided. An audiencecriterion may also comprise a list of unacceptable entities, to whichthe first member's 112 a personalized document and/or the portion(s) maynot be output, or to whom access to at least the portions may not beprovided. In one embodiment, the audience criterion may be stored withother entries and profiled data associated with the first member's 112 amember profile in the social network database 130.

As shown in box 308, the method 300 further comprises identifying a typeof relationship between the first and second members. For example, inone embodiment, the social network engine 120 may access profile dataassociated with at least one of the first and second members, and maydetermine the type of relationship based, at least in part, on theaccessed profile data. In one such embodiment, the first and secondmembers may each have an entry in their respective member profiles thatindicates that they have agreed to a “friend” type of relationship of a“close friend” relationship weight.

The social network engine 120 may then evaluate the identifiedrelationship between the first and second members for satisfaction ofthe identified audience criterion as shown in box 310. If the type ofrelationship signal satisfies the audience criterion, the social networkengine 120 may provide access to at least the portions) of the documentto the second member, as shown in box 312. If the type of relationshipdoes not satisfy the audience criterion, the social network engine 120will not provide access to at least the portions) of the document to thesecond member as shown in box 314.

For example, the audience criterion may comprise a relationshipcriterion specified by the first member (such as a list of threeacceptable entities that may be provided access to at least theportions) comprising dynamically updated content of the document hostedfor the first member). If a request signal received by the socialnetwork engine 120 for access to at least the portions) of the documentis evaluated for satisfaction of this illustrative audience criterionoriginates from an entity other than one of the three acceptableentities specified, the social network engine 120 will not provideaccess to the portion(s) of the first member's 112 a document to theentity requesting to view it, as shown in box 314. If the request signaldid originate from one of the three specified entities, access to atleast the portion(s) of the hosted document may be granted, as shown inbox 312.

Referring now to FIG. 4, a method 400 according to another embodiment ofthe present invention is shown. The method 400 comprises a method forgenerating a document comprising a portion that may be of interest to afirst member 112 a of a social network. As shown in block 402, themethod 400 comprises identifying a plurality of portions of documentsthat have been selected by at least one social network member. Theidentified portions each comprise dynamically updated content. A serverdevice 104 may host the social network. A social network engine 120 mayadminister the social network.

In one embodiment, the portions identified may comprise portions ofdocuments associated with social network friends or contacts of a firstmember of the social network (such as user 112 a). In one suchembodiment, the social network engine 120 may search the social networkmember profiles of members associated with the first member 112 a forthe presence of documents. For example, the social network engine 120may identify whether the member profiles of those members of the socialnetwork that are within one degree of separation from the first member112 a comprise documents that include portions that comprise dynamicallyupdated content.

In another embodiment, the portions identified may comprise portions ofdocuments associated with a group of social network members, such as asocial network community. In one such embodiment, the social networkengine 120 may search the social network member profiles of all thosemembers who belong to at least one of the same social networkcommunities as the first member 112 a for the presence of documents thatinclude at least one portion, and identify any such documents. Theplurality of identified portions of documents may comprise a widevariety of different types of suitable dynamically updated content. Forexample, one of the documents may comprise a news information portion,an up-to-date sports score information portion, a current movieinformation portion, and a daily horoscope portion that may each beidentified by the social network engine 120.

As shown in block 404, the method 400 further comprises determiningwhether any of the identified portions may be of interest to a firstmember of the social network (such as user 112 a). The social networkengine 120 may determine whether at least one portion from among theplurality of portions identified may fit with any of the statedinterests, goals, contacts, etc., of the first member. A portion that isdetermined to be of interest to the first member may comprise, forexample, a portion that is popular among the plurality of identifiedportions of documents, and/or a portion favored by other social networkmembers with entries in their member profiles similar to entries in thefirst member's 112 a member profile. In one embodiment, the socialnetwork engine 120 may determine whether a portion may be of interest tothe first member 112 a according to the subroutine 404 as describedbelow with respect to FIG. 5.

Referring still to FIG. 4, after identifying at least one portion thatmay be of interest to the member the social network engine 120 maygenerate a document comprising the selected portion or portionsdetermined to be of interest to the first member, as shown in block 406.The generated document may also comprise information about the firstmember 112 a. Information about the first member 112 a may be extractedfrom profile data in the user's 112 a social network member profile. Thesocial network engine 120 may generate Hypertext Markup Language (HTML)code comprising data indicating the at least one selected portion,and/or information about the first member 112 a. The generated documentmay comprise, for example, a personalized HTML portal page viewableusing a web browser application, and associated with the first member's112 a viewable member profile on the social network. The portion orportions on the first member's 112 a customized document may be updatedin real-time with the availability of new information on the network106. For example, the social network engine 120 may receive updatedcontent from an associated content provider, and may automaticallygenerate and output new HTML code to reflect the updated information.

The method 400 further comprises providing the first member 112 a withaccess to the generated document, as shown in box 408. For example, thesocial network engine 120 may output the document over the network 106to the first member 112 a, or to another social network member whorequests, and is permitted access to the generated document. In oneembodiment, the generated document may be provided in response to arequest signal comprising a request for access to the generated documentfrom a social network member. For example, a social network member 112 bmay be viewing the first member's 112 a social network member profile,and note the presence of a generated document including portionscustomized by the first member 112 a comprising the user's 112 apersonal choices for which portion or portions are included in thedocument. The requesting member 112 b may generate a request signal inone such embodiment by clicking a hyperlink on a user interfaceassociated with viewing the first member's 112 a document. The socialnetwork engine 120 may receive the request signal and determine someonehas requested access to the first member's 112 a personalized generateddocument.

In one embodiment, the social network engine 120 may output thegenerated document over the network 106 to a client device, such as theclient device 102 b associated with the requesting member 112 b. In oneembodiment, the document may be output as an HTTP article that may beviewed on a user interface in communication with a requesting socialnetwork member's 112 b client device 102 b. In some embodiments, thegenerated document may only be output upon the request signal'ssatisfaction of an audience criterion. In one such embodiment, thegenerated document comprising the selected portion or portions may beprovided as described by the method 300 shown in FIG. 3.

Referring now to FIG. 5, a flow diagram of a subroutine 404 of themethod of FIG. 4 for identifying a portion that may be of interest to asocial network member according to one embodiment of the presentinvention is shown. As shown in block 502, the subroutine 404 comprisesaccessing profile data associated with the first member 112 a (such asby accessing the member profile of the first member 112 a). The firstmember's 112 a profile data may be stored, for example, in a socialnetwork database 130. The social network engine 120 may note theexistence of personal information contained in profile data entriesassociated with the first member 112 a. Personal information maycomprise, for instance, information associated with the first member's112 a background information, address, interests, hobbies, etc. Thesocial network engine 120 may also access a document customized by thefirst member 112 a. For example, the first member 112 a may havepreviously customized and/or personalized a document by, for example,adding or removing a portion that is dynamically updated with content toor from the document.

As shown in block 504, the subroutine 404 further comprises selecting aportion that may be of interest to the first member 112 a based, atleast in part, on the accessed profile data. In one embodiment, thesocial network engine 120 may select a portion that may be of interestto the first member 112 a by comparing entries in the first member's 112a profile data with entries in a plurality of other social networkmembers' profile data. The social network engine 120 may then select aportion that is popular among documents associated with the plurality ofother social network members that have entries in their respectivemember profiles that are similar to entries contained in the firstmember's 112 a member profile.

In another embodiment, the social network engine 120 may select portionsthat may be of interest to the first member 112 a by noting similaritiesbetween the entries in the user's 112 a social network member profileand the type and content of the dynamic content provided by a portion.For example, the social network engine 120 may note that a portion thatprovides background and schedule information, as well as ticket prices,for live music venues in and around the Kansas City metropolitan area.The social network engine 120 may then associate this information withthe fact that the first member 112 a has provided an entry in his or hermember profile that specifies a hometown of Kansas City, Mo.

In yet another embodiment, a portion may be of interest to the firstmember 112 a if it is common to a certain predetermined number orpercentage of a set of identified documents. Information from the user's112 a social network member profile may be used to ascertain whichportions among those on the identified documents may be of interest tothe first member 112 a.

Referring still to FIG. 5, the social network engine 120 may then promptthe first member 112 a to indicate whether to include the selectedportion (or portions) in a generated document, as shown in box 508. Forexample, the social network engine 120 may generate and output to thefirst member 112 a a suggestion signal, such as an email messagecomprising two hyperlinks. A first hyperlink may be associated withadding the selected portion. A second hyperlink may be associated withnot taking the suggested action of adding the selected portion.

The first member 112 a may then reply to the prompt, as shown in box510. For example, the first member 112 a may click on one of theabove-mentioned hyperlinks displayed in a user interface, therebyindicating to the social network engine 120 either to include or notinclude the selected portion in the generated document.

If the first member 112 a wishes to include the selected portion in hisor her personalized social network document, the social network engine120 may add it to the first member's 112 a generated document, as shownin box 512. If the first member 112 a does not wish to include theselected portion in his or her personalized document, he or she may soindicate. If the user declines to add the selected portion, the socialnetwork engine 120 will not add it to the first member's 112 a documentas shown in box 514.

The social network engine 120 may then again select a different portionthat may be of interest to the first member 112 a based, in part, on theprofile data, as shown in box 504. As such, the illustrative embodimentshown by subroutine 404 may be iterative in nature, and capable ofnumerous repetitions. In one embodiment, the social network engine 120may end the process of determining whether portions may be of interestto the first member 112 a after he or she has declined to include aselected portion or portions a predetermined number of times.

FIG. 6 shows a flow diagram of a method 600 according to anotherembodiment of the present invention. The method 600 comprises a methodfor rating and removing a portion that is dynamically updated withcontent from a document associated with a first member of a socialnetwork in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention.

As shown in box 602, the method 600 comprises identifying a firstportion that is dynamically updated with content on the documentassociated with the first member of the social network. In oneembodiment, the first member (such as the user 112 a) may havepreviously customized the document with his or her choices for whichportions that provide dynamically updated content to include. Forexample, the social network engine 120 may identify all of the portionsincluded on the first member's 112 a document.

The method 600 further comprises accessing a plurality of portions thatprovide dynamically updated content of documents customized by aplurality of social network members associated with the first member1123, as shown in box 604. In one embodiment, accessing the plurality ofportions may comprise accessing profile data and/or other entries in themember profiles associated with the plurality of members associated withthe first member 112 a. In one such embodiment, this may compriseaccessing the customized documents that include the plurality ofportions, and/or accessing an entry (or entries) associated with themember profile. For example, a social network may have a plurality ofmembers, and each member may have his or her own member profile and acustomized document that includes at least one portion that isdynamically updated with content that is associated with his or hermember profile. The social network engine 120 may access a plurality ofsuch social network member profiles. The accessed social networkprofiles may be stored in the social network database 130.

In one example, the social network engine 120 may access the portions ofdocuments customized by at least some of the social network members whobelong to a social network member association (such as a community orgroup) that the first member 112 a also belongs to, and/or access themember profiles associated with the accessed portions. A social networkmember association may comprise, for example, a group of social networkmembers that have voluntarily joined other social network members whoshare a hobby or live in a common geographic area. In anotherembodiment, the social network engine 120 may access a plurality ofportions of documents customized by a plurality of social networkmembers within one degree of separation from the first member 112 a,and/or access the member profiles associated with the accessed portions.

Still referring to FIG. 6, the method 600 further comprises determininga rating for the first portion, as shown in box 606. In one embodiment,the rating may be based, at least in part, on the plurality of accessedportions of documents customized by the plurality of members associatedwith the first member 112 a. For example, the social network engine 120may determine a percentage of other members of a member association towhich the first member 112 a belongs that have or have not customizedtheir respective documents with the first portion. In anotherembodiment, the social network engine 120 may determine the ratingbased, at least in part, on the number of members within two degrees ofseparation from the first member 112 a who have customized theirrespective documents with the first portion.

In one embodiment, the social network engine 120 may access profile data(such as member profiles) associated with a plurality of members of thesocial network who are associated with the first member 112 a. In onesuch embodiment, a rating may be based, at least in part, on the numberand/or percentage of those members with similar entries in their memberprofiles as the first member 112 a that have/have not customized theirrespective documents with the first portion that the first member 112 ahas selected.

In another embodiment, the rating may be based, at least in part, oninterest information associated with the first member 112 a that hasbeen identified by the social network engine 120. For example, in onesuch embodiment, the interest information may be determined by accessingprofile data associated with the first member 112 a (such as by loggingentries in the first member's 112 a member profile and comparing theseentries with a table of suggested portions that are available to membersof the social network, wherein each such portion provides a distinctdynamically updated stream of content).

The method 600 further comprises removing the first portion from thedocument associated with the first member 112 a, as shown in box 608.For example, in one embodiment, the social network engine 120 mayautomatically remove the first portion if the rating determined for thefirst portion does not exceed a predetermined threshold rating. Inanother embodiment, the social network engine 120 may provide asuggestion associated with the first portion to the first member 112 a.In one such embodiment, the suggestion may comprise a suggestion toremove the first portion from the first member's 112 a customizeddocument. The social network engine 120 may then determine whether thefirst member 112 a has provided a direction to remove the first portionin response to receiving the suggestion, and may remove the firstportion if such a direction has been received.

General

The foregoing description of embodiments of the invention has beenpresented only for the purpose of illustration and description and isnot intended to be exhaustive or to limit the invention to the preciseforms disclosed. Numerous modifications and adaptations thereof will beapparent to those skilled in the art without departing from the spiritand scope of the present invention.

That which is claimed:
 1. A computer-implemented method comprising:hosting, with one or more processors, a document for a first member of asocial network, the document comprising a portion selected by the firstmember that is dynamically updated with content; identifying, with atleast one of the one or more processors, a relationship criterion, whichis designated by the first member and specific to the portion;accessing, with at least one of the one or more processors, profile dataassociated with the first member of the social network; identifying,with at least one of the one or more processors, a relationship betweenthe first member and a second member of the social network based on theprofile data; and if the relationship between the first member and thesecond member satisfies the relationship criterion, providing at leastthe portion to the second member.
 2. The computer-implemented method ofclaim 1 wherein the content is provided by a first entity independent ofa second entity hosting the document and independent of the firstmember.
 3. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, comprisingidentifying an interest of the second member based on determiningwhether the dynamically updated content is time sensitive.
 4. Thecomputer-implemented method of claim 3, wherein the portion isdynamically updated with third-party content.
 5. Thecomputer-implemented method of claim 1, further comprising identifyingwhether the portion is of interest to the second member based ondetermining a popularity level or a usage rate of the portion.
 6. Thecomputer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein providing at least theportion to the second member is limited by a time duration.
 7. Thecomputer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein profile data includesinformation regarding at least one of relationship status, birth date,age, children, sense of humor, fashion preferences, habits, pets,hometown location, passions, sports, activities, favorite books,favorite music, television preferences, movie preferences, favoritecuisines, email addresses, location information, instant messaging username, phone number, address, skills or career.
 8. A system comprising:one or more processors; a memory storing instructions that, whenexecuted by the one or more processors, causes the system to: host adocument for a first member of a social network, the document comprisinga portion selected by the first member that is dynamically updated withcontent; identify a relationship criterion, which is designated by thefirst member and specific to the portion; access profile data associatedwith the first member of the social network; identify a relationshipbetween the first member and a second member of the social network basedon the profile data; and provide at least the portion to the secondmember if the relationship between the first member and the secondmember satisfies the relationship criterion.
 9. The system of claim 8,wherein the content is provided by a first entity independent of asecond entity hosting the document and independent of the first member.10. The system of claim 8, wherein the memory further storinginstructions to identify an interest of the second member based ondetermining whether the dynamically updated content is time sensitive.11. The system of claim 8, wherein the memory further storinginstructions to identify whether the portion is of interest to thesecond member based on determining a popularity level or a usage rate ofthe portion.
 12. The system of claim 8, wherein the portion isdynamically updated with third-party content.
 13. The system of claim 8,wherein the memory further storing instructions to provide at least theportion to the second member is limited by a time duration.
 14. Thesystem of claim 8, wherein profile data includes information regardingat least one of relationship status, birth date, age, children, sense ofhumor, fashion preferences, habits, pets, hometown location, passions,sports, activities, favorite books, favorite music, televisionpreferences, movie preferences, favorite cuisines, email addresses,location information, instant messaging user name, phone number,address, skills or career.
 15. A computer program product comprising anon-transitory computer usable medium including a computer readableprogram, wherein the computer readable program, when executed on acomputer, causes the computer to perform operations comprising: hostinga document for a first member of a social network, the documentcomprising a portion selected by the first member that is dynamicallyupdated with content; identify a relationship criterion, designated bythe first member and specific to the portion; accessing profile dataassociated with the first member of the social network; identifying arelationship between the first member and second member of the socialnetwork based on the profile data; and providing at least the portion tothe second member if the relationship between the first member and thesecond member satisfies the relationship criterion.
 16. The computerprogram product of claim 15, wherein the content is provided by a firstentity independent of a second entity hosting the document andindependent of the first member.
 17. The computer program product ofclaim 15, wherein the computer readable program, when executed on thecomputer, causes the computer to further perform an operation comprisingidentifying an interest of the second member based on determiningwhether the dynamically updated content is time sensitive.
 18. Thecomputer program product of claim 15, wherein the computer readableprogram, when executed on the computer, causes the computer to furtherperform an operation comprising identifying whether the portion is ofinterest to the second member based on determining a popularity level ora usage rate of the portion.
 19. The computer program product of claim15, wherein the portion is dynamically updated with third-party content.20. The computer program product of claim 15, wherein providing at leastthe portion to the second member is limited by a time duration.
 21. Thecomputer program product of claim 15, wherein profile data includesinformation regarding at least one of relationship status, birth date,age, children, sense of humor, fashion preferences, habits, pets,hometown location, passions, sports, activities, favorite books,favorite music, television preferences, movie preferences, favoritecuisines, email addresses, location information, instant messaging username, phone number, address, skills or career.